The Shadows of Arkham
by My-Arkham-Mystery
Summary: She doesn't know who she is or where she is from. What's worse is that she has attracted the attention of Gotham's Underworld.
1. Chapter 1

The Shadows of Arkham 1

Chapter 1: The Beginning

I was frozen in place on a cold, hard ground. Opening my eyes I looked dead on into a brick wall. No matter how hard I tried to move my body parts, the best I could do was to lift my head. I smelled blood and felt a dull, aching pain from my right wrist to my collar bone. This pain was, ever so slightly, magnified in the center of my skull. Finally, I built up enough energy to move my head from the right, where it was facing the gritty wall, to the left, sliding my nose across a fresh pool of blood. When I turned my head two more bodies came into view. They were lying next to each other on the other side of the alley, just outside the vision of the street light. Both had dried blood around them, their blood had stained the pavement. What had happened? I don't remember anything before waking up in this alley.

I turned my attention back to the figures; I noticed that one was moving. As the figure tried to stand I held my breath hoping that this was just an illusion. There was a silence, so still that I could feel my blood making its way out of the shreds of skin on my right arm.

"Nigma." said the figure, "Wake up we need to get out of here before the bat finds out you escaped."

The figure was leaning heavily on the wall. I noticed that new blood was making a steady stream down his burlap looking clothing. This man that he had called 'Nigma' was lying face down on the ground. He wore a dark green suit and had a golden cane with a question mark handle lying next to him. The man in burlap was still leaning on the wall; he had started nudging Nigma's side with the tip of his shoe.

"Damn it Nigma, wake up!" said the burlap man. He sounded angry, but had a hint of pleading in his voice.

For a second the man in burlap stopped nudging his unconscious partner and looked up, across the alley to my motionless body. Now that he had turned toward me, I could make out more of his costume. This man was wearing some sort of fright mask, but the mask had a mouth piece, the two parts of a gas mask were sticking out the sides of the stitched grin. Also, on his right arm he had a storage tank, connected to a weird system of tubes that lead to needles on his finger tips. He had leaned his head to one side and started using the wall as a crutch to move toward me. All I could do in return was stare at him in paralyzing fear.

"Well, now what do we have here?" whispered the costumed man, "A child that wandered to far from home?" His voice rose into a shrill, high pitched laughter, sending waves of fear up my spine.

He crouched next to me and reached out, lifting my face with his death cold, finger tips. We stared at each other in silence for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, he released my head, letting it fall to the ground with a small thud. He stood up and looked back at his partner, who was now using the wall as a resting place. The man in the green suit had his eyes closed, but I could tell that he was listening to everything that was going on.

"Hmm…." mumbled the man in the green suit.

The burlap man ignored his partner and looked back down to me. He took one hand and held my head against the pavement. Then he held his needled hand in front of my face.

"Do you like dreams child?" he whispered looking straight into my eyes, seeing my fear, "Then you'll love nightmares!"

In one swift movement he injected the needles into my neck, sending glowing yellow liquid into my veins. The world was turning black around me and all I could hear was the shrill, high pitched laugh as I faded away into the darkness.


	2. Chapter 2

The Shadows of Arkham 2

Chapter 2: Nightmares

I awoke sitting up against the same bloody, brick wall. My neck hurt and when I felt the area were the needles went in there was nothing. I quickly lifted up the right sleeve of my dark purple hoodie, to reveal a normal arm. I couldn't have slept that long could I, so long my arm had healed? No, if I did I would be dead; falling asleep in a Gotham alleyway is a death sentence. I looked at the blood on the wall; it was so dry and frail that if you touched it, it would shatter into a hundred pieces.

"I….I don't understand." I said to myself in the darkness. I tried to stand, but I stopped dead in my tracks when I noticed something. It was quiet, much too quiet for Gotham to handle. This alley was much too still compared to the one I saw the burlap man in. At that moment I stood up and swung my head to the left, facing the direction I remember the two men were laying.

Nothing was there, not even one drop of blood on the concrete. Something is wrong here, where could the burlap man and his partner go without leaving some kind of trail? My heart began to beat faster in fear. All the street lights were off and only the crescent moon concurred in the sky, no clouds, planes, or helicopters. I knew at that moment that this wasn't the same alley. The blood on the wall crumbled and fell when I started to walk away, and something about the alley became uncomfortable.

It was a cold night in Gotham, which was weird considering it was the middle of the summer. I pulled my hoodie tighter around me, hugging myself to keep warm. The wind picked up when I got to the street; so much that I was blinded for a moment. When I got my sight back I saw the emptiness of the city. Nothing was living, not even the rats that live in the sewers had surfaced to find a meal.

I couldn't escape the feeling of something watching me, but there was no one to be seen in the whole city. Beginning to walk down the street, still contemplating what had happened, I looked over into another alley way and saw a shadow gesturing me toward it.

"Shit." I muttered. I started to run full speed from the mouth of the alleyway. While I was running I heard the shrill, high pitched laugh coming from the alley. For some reason, my instincts told me to run and hide in the next alley. They were right, there was a dumpster in the alley, but it was locked so I hid behind it. Facing away from the street I heard footsteps behind me, they stopped once they reached the alley entrance.

"I know where you are child," I heard the figure say in my direction; "you can't hide from fear!"

With that the dumpster went flying to the other side of the alley, smashing against the wall and leaving me exposed. I twirled around and stood up, making eye contact with the figure. Trembling, I felt like a caged animal getting ready to be slaughtered. The atmosphere became smothering when he started walking toward me. Its eyes had lighting caged inside, creating a gold glow inside its skull. Suddenly the figure stopped and glared at me; studying me.

I was too afraid to move, but I knew if I wanted to get out of here I'd have to do something. I moved my foot back and felt a piece of the brick from the wall. If he started coming at me, I'd be ready to fight. As if he knew what I was thinking, he took a step toward me.

"There's no point in fighting it child," He said with a chuckle, "you are completely on my terms." His voice rose to another high pinched laugh.

"W-what do you mean by 'your terms'?" I said letting go of my idea to fight back. If I was on his terms then there would be no point.

He chuckled at this "You'll find out soon enough child, soon enough." His stitched grin spread across his face. With that I heard something behind me move. I half turned before I recognized there was another figure moving around. The man in burlap chuckled and waved bye before he took a step into a shadow and disappeared. I was left with something hiding in the darkness. Before I could determine what it was, I just ran out of the alley. The figure threw something at me and it wrapped around my ankles. The ground rushed up to meet me and I felt my skull hit the concrete with at thud, sending me into a pain filled sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

The Shadows of Arkham 3

Chapter 3: Unpleasant Surprises

The pain hit me like a brick wall, causing me to flip open my eyes and have the intense light burn them. I put my left hand over my eyes until I was used to the light, then I began to look around. The room was a confined space; the walls were gray, with many blood stains. This bed I was laying in had a metal frame and the matrices had white sheets. I turned over the sheets and found that I was in a white long sleeve shirt and pants, unlike the purple hoodie and black jeans I was originally wearing. The shirt had a Velcro neck piece that wrapped around and held the shirt together; the pants where ankle high and ripped at the bottom.

As slowly as I could, I sat up and moved my legs to the side of the bed. I undid the Velcro strap and saw my damaged body. My whole upper body was bandaged except for my left arm, which was completely untouched. I redid my shirt and tried to stand, but fell to my knees; pain shot through me like a bullet piercing my heart. Finally, after many tries, I was able to make my way to the metal door that separated me from freedom. The door was locked tight, so I looked through the small window and saw another room across from me. I heard a pair of footsteps coming up the hallway and stopped a few feet from my door.

"Which room is that filthy delinquent in?" said a stern voice just as they stopped.

"She is not a delinquent sir, but a scared child." Said a familiar voice; it sounded like they were talking in my direction.

"I doubt that she was scared," said the stern voice, "but deranged."

"Now why would you say that Warden?" said the familiar voice.

"You saw it yourself Crane, the orderlies could barley hold her down on the operation table!" shouted the stern voice. His words echoed through the halls of this….this hospital? I was hoping that I wasn't in a hospital, I don't know who I am and I don't think I would be able to remember while strangers are poking and prodding at me.

Suddenly, a pair of blue eyes appeared, looking through the glass. I jumped back, while the man unlocked the door and opened it. This man was almost six feet (I guessed), he had dark brown hair and I can't explain those eyes. They where blue, but I could tell they had something hiding beneath the surface. When this man, whom I presumed was Crane from his friendly appearance, saw me standing there his deceiving eyes light up in excitement.

"See Warden," said the man, "what is so deranged about this child?" He was talking to a short, fat man that stayed outside the doorway. This man, the 'Warden', had gray hair that only existed on the brim of his head. I had no trouble figuring out what his eyes were; they were cold, stern eyes that, apparently, didn't want anything to do with me. It was apparent that he was not going to enter the room, so this man 'Crane' held out his hand to me. I was a little hesitant, but I shook his hand and when I let go, he looked back at the warden and smiled.

"Would you like to introduce yourself, warden?" said Crane. The warden was silent for a while, staring at me with those cold eyes. While he was busy contemplating his next move I continued to stare at him, I wanted to show him he didn't intimidate me. Only Crane's voice brought me back to reality, I looked up to those deceiving eyes.

"My name is Doctor Jonathan Crane," said Crane, "I'll be looking after you during your stay at Arkham Asylum."

"Arkham Asylum?" I said looking straight at the warden. Finally, he decided to introduce himself.

"My name is Warden Quincy Sharp; I am the overseer of ElizabethArkham Asylum." He said, and then he added "For the Criminally Insane."

No, this has to be a lie! Arkham Asylum is a place for crazy, deranged people; who have voices in their heads and have no way to get back to sanity. Crane must have seen my confusion in my eyes. He put his hand on my left shoulder, knelt down and locked his eyes with mine.

"That doesn't mean that you are as crazy as some of the people in here, but it doesn't mean you are completely stable either." He said with a smile. Just then we heard a buzzing sound. He lifted his lad coat sleeve and looked at a black digital watch.

"Looks like its time for my appointment with Victor…" He mumbled to himself, "Your appointment with me isn't until tomorrow." With that he stood up and left the room, closing and locking the door. I was alone again in this depressing room, so I stumbled back to the bed and sat down.

"I can't believe I'm in the nuthouse…" I mumbled to myself as the footsteps disappeared farther into Arkham.


End file.
